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PCS begins drive to save licence offices

Plans to close the DVLA’s 39 local offices around the UK, putting 1,200 jobs at risk, make no economic sense and will be fiercely resisted, the PCS says.

Coming two weeks before Christmas, the news is devastating for staff, and the closures would wipe out the high quality face-to-face services provided to the public and the motor trade – who often have complex enquiries to deal with.

After the union exposed what it believed were secret discussions about the closures late last year, DVLA senior managers denied there were any plans and refused to release details under a freedom of information request.

Despite a three-month public consultation being launched today, the union says the decision already appears to have been taken. The flawed consultations over plans to close coastguard stations – also part of the Department for Transport – means the public and businesses can have no faith that senior managers and ministers will be willing to listen to, and act on, concerns.

The union’s representatives will be discussing how to respond in the coming days, but industrial action is very likely.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “With unemployment and inflation remaining high, these cuts to local communities are outrageous and unnecessary, and will further weaken economies crying out for investment.

“DVLA senior managers have previously denied this is what they were planning, so to announce it just two weeks before Christmas is insulting and devastating for staff.”